PRESS RELEASE

04/05/2005

Leicester trip shows ASBOs have slashed juvenile crime - Kelleher

Cork North-Central Fianna Fáil TD Billy Kelleher has returned from an enlightening fact-finding trip to Leicester, England, where local authority representatives, residents and police said anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) have slashed the juvenile crime rate in two years.

Leicester City Council has a designated anti-social behaviour unit which works with local police to enforce ASBOs in areas such as shopping centres and housing estates that have become popular congregation points for yobs and louts.

Deputy Kelleher, who has been resolute in his support for ASBOs, said the trip illustrated the success of the local authority’s tough stance on crime and will inform our own review of the criminal justice system.

‘The head of Leicester City Council’s anti-social unit, Neil Canham, told me that incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour reported to police have more than halved since these tough new measures were introduced two years ago.

‘I spoke to residents in the Eyres Monsell housing estate who told me ASBOs have transformed their lives. No longer are they encircled by intimidating louts when they leave their homes. They can now go to the chip shop or hairdresser in the estate without being in fear of their lives,’ said Deputy Kelleher, who is the Government deputy chief whip.

Last week, the anti-social behaviour unit delivered a door-drop leaflet in two other housing estates showing photographs of two boys aged 14 and 17 who had been responsible for serious anti-social behaviour acts over two years. They are now banned from these two estates for two years and face arrest if they re-enter in that period, he said.

‘ASBOs are not an isolationist solution but rather a proven civil remedy that should be used in conjunction with community policing, State agencies and restorative justice programmes to rehabilitate young offenders. But we cannot allow the law-abiding majority to be held to ransom by a lawless minority - whether in Cork city or anywhere else in the country.

‘Whole communities should not be trapped inside their own homes. Crime may be down but anti-social behaviour incidents are up. ASBOs are proposed under the Criminal Justice Bill 2004 currently passing through the Oireachtas. I will be using this trip to inform the national debate on anti-social behaviour in our continued efforts to crack down on crime,’ said Deputy Kelleher.

On his one-day trip yesterday [Tuesday], Deputy Kelleher met Leicester City Council’s anti-social behaviour unit manager, Neil Canham; legal officer, Waheda Esmail; police superintendent, Nigel Hughes; and resident/victim in Eyres Monsell estate, Yvonne Todd. He also spoke to other residents in the estate.